On Sunday 20th May, I am going to be running the Brathay Windermere marathon. The marathon encompasses a full circuit of Lake Windermere. Yes, that's right: Lake Windermere, in the Lake District. Where all the hills are.

I have racked up over 500 miles of training over the last 18 weeks, and was feeling pretty confident, until I re-read an old email from the organisers, in which the race director described the race as "arguably one of the most scenic and challenging marathons in Europe", and went on to call it "a gruelling 26.2 mile course that is defined by its undulating nature.". Ah. Notwithstanding that though, I thought that while I am putting myself through this, I would like to raise some money for the charity CCHF All About Kids.

CCHF All About Kids gives disadvantaged children, primarily from London, residential activity and respite breaks. For many of the children that CCHF works with, the holidays with CCHF will be the only holiday they have each year, and the breaks give them a chance to do things that many of us took for granted when we were children: to ride bikes, to go to the beach, to play outside, and perhaps more than anything, to just be children. The charity receives no statutory funding, and has a small staff team, meaning that even relatively small donations can make a big difference to the work the charity can do.

As some of you reading this will know, I have volunteered for CCHF All About Kids since 2002, and so can personally vouch for the good work that the charity does, and for the ways in which the children benefit from its breaks. Because of this connection, raising money for CCHF means a lot to me, so please, do sponsor me if you possibly can.

If any of you would like to know more about CCHF All About Kids, the link to their website is:

http://www.cchf-allaboutkids.org.uk/welcome.htm

If you would like to know more about the Brathay Windermere marathon, and the event's organisers, the Brathay Trust, their website is:

http://www.brathaywindermeremarathon.org.uk/the-marathon.aspx

And here is a little bit about JustGiving:

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.